In Time
by Lauzzkaban
Summary: Ariel is finally human, and she and her prince are free to live out the rest of their days on land, together. But Ariel will soon learn that being human is not all excitement and joy as she had once believed. Eric must now teach her the ways of life above the sea. Ariel has much to learn about her new home and her new body. They have much to learn about each other.
1. Chapter 1: It's A Dinglehopper!

As the wedding ship approached the shore, Ariel gave one final wave to each of her sisters and blew one final kiss to her beaming father. She watched with equal measure of bliss and agony as seven colourful fish tails disappeared under the surface of the water along with the glowing orange sun that was slowly sinking below the horizon. She couldn't pretend she was happy to see them leave her, nor could she pretend she wasn't happy not to be following them.

Once the last inch of fin was out of sight, she turned away from the ocean to face her new husband. Eric beamed adoringly at her, he was in awe, not only of her beauty, but her courage. For she was leaving behind everything she had ever known. She had made the ultimate sacrifice, sacrificing not only her home and family but also her body, her entire state of being. She had done that so she could be on land. She had done that for him.

A sudden pang of painful guilt rippled through his chest at the thought. She had sacrificed all that for him, risked her life even, and he almost destroyed it all. He almost lost her, and for what? He asked himself what would have happened had his trance not been broken and he had married the Sea Witch. They would probably both be dead by now, both of their worlds in tatters around them. He could hardly bear the thought. His turmoil was short lived, though. A gentle voice broke the silence and washed those terrible thoughts from his mind.

"Eric, my love," was all the voice said, and his bride approached him, closing the distance between them and placing her hands within his. He could do nothing but smile down at her and tuck a strand of that beautifully distinctive red hair behind her ear. The ship gave a jerk beneath them as he did so. He released one of Ariel's hands, but kept the other firmly in his grasp as he led her away.

"Come," he beckoned softly. "We've docked."

As they stepped off the ship and onto the beach below, Ariel could not help but feel glad that she had taken off her shoes earlier in the evening. The golden sand felt wonderful beneath her feet, it felt new and soft and warm. It was a sensation she had not quite gotten used to yet, and one that reminded her of when she and Eric had first met, the day she first became human. She smiled at the memory. Sorrow befell her as the ocean reached her feet, however, and she gazed longingly out into the water. Eric moved to stand beside her, his hand falling from hers.

"I realise this is frightening for you," he said gently, also staring out to sea. "But I will never make you stay here with me if you are unhappy."

"I know," replied Ariel with confidence. "But I am happy. I long to be here on land. I long to be with you."

Eric smiled once more, finally looking upon her. "Come," he said again and reconnected his hand with hers. They walked together to Eric's palace. What a grand building it was, huge and towering and built from beautiful, pure white stone. Ariel could not help but be in complete awe of it despite having already been inside. They left their wedding guests behind and made for Eric's chamber.

Ariel had not been in this room before. As Eric moved around freely within it, Ariel stood in the doorway, awestruck and drinking in every detail, from the shiny marble floor, to the large windows, to a bookshelf stacked with more magnificent, leather-bound books than could ever be read in a lifetime, to the giant four poster bed Eric had just sat down on to remove his boots.

"Don't be shy," Eric said kindly. "Make yourself comfortable."

Ariel obeyed. She stepped timidly into the room, still staring all around herself as she sat beside Eric on the soft bed. Eric watched with adoration as his wife explored every inch of his chamber with her eyes. Ariel suddenly stood and explored the room a little. She knew Eric wouldn't mind her curiosity, after all, everything was so new. Many things in the room Ariel recognised from her collection back in Atlantica. Her eyes then fell upon a tall, wooden dresser, where a shiny, silver, four pronged instrument she recognised was sat.

She walked over and picked it up, examining it. Scuttle had once told her this object was called a Dinglehopper, and it was used by humans to straighten out their hair. With this in mind, she gripped the handle and began to run the prongs through her bright red locks. Eric chuckled heartily behind her and she turned on her heel in panic.

"Am I doing something wrong?" she asked in alarm. Eric walked over to her and gently took the Dinglehopper from her hand. He smiled reassuringly.

"Do you know what this is, Ariel?"

"It's a Dinglehopper!" said Ariel confidently. "Humans use them for their hair."

Eric laughed again, not unkindly, but he didn't have the heart to correct her at that moment. He just wanted to continue watching her explore this new world around her, and he couldn't wait to explore it with her and teach her everything he could.

He closed the gap between their bodies, pulling her close to his chest. He had never been so curious about anyone before, but of course, no one he had ever met was quite like her. He tipped her chin up with his forefinger and placed a gentle, lingering kiss upon her lips. The two of them ached with longing the moment contact was broken. Eric gazed down upon Ariel's innocent, curious face with hopeless adoration as he spoke again.

"You are fascinating to me, my love," he mused. "Simply fascinating."


	2. Chapter 2: The Edge of the Earth

Ariel had never really had the opportunity to explore the castle before now, having spent all her previous time as a human trying to break the Sea Witch's spell, and so she continued exploring late into the night. Eric accompanied her, explaining the functions of various objects that took Ariel's interest. Some of them she recognised, though most of them were not used in the way she originally thought.

She already knew that what Scuttle had once told her was a Snarfblat was actually a pipe, and was not used for playing music at all, but for smoking tobacco. Ariel had experienced this first hand during their wedding and she didn't care to experience it again. The cloud of smoke it produced was stifling and smelled of burning, and it reminded her of the fire on Eric's ship the night she had rescued him from drowning.

She learned that her dinglehopper was actually called a fork, a utensil used for eating, and also that the golden stand she had used to display it back in Atlantica was actually a candelabra. This, she learned, was used to hold candles, which were tall, thin sticks of wax that used tiny fires to light the room. It brought Eric such joy, explaining all this to her and watching her stare at everything in complete wonderment.

In Eric's study, Ariel was immediately drawn to a huge blue ball on a golden stand in the corner. She hurried over and crouched down to have a closer look at it, and was fascinated to find it covered in patches of colour with words printed across them. Eric watched as she reached out slowly and touched it. She pulled her hand back sharply as the ball moved slightly, startled. Then, tentatively, she reached out again and spun it. Her eyes lit up in amazement and she grinned as it turned and turned, the colour and the words upon it blurring into one.

"What is it?" she asked as it slowed to a stop, turning to face Eric with great interest. This was by far the most fascinating object she had yet come across, and she was eager to know more. Eric strode over to her and crouched beside her, also inspecting the globe as well as her curious, child-like face.

"We call it a globe, a map of the world," he spun the globe once and stopped it with his hand. "It shows us every part of the earth man has ever discovered. All of the islands," he pointed to one of the coloured sections, "all of the seven seas," he swiped a finger across a large section of the blue, "everything."

Ariel clung on to every word. There was something so magical about this object, something amazing about being able to see every part of the world from this one room. The depths of the ocean were all Ariel had ever known, and now she had every inch of the planet right in front of her. It made her feel empowered, somehow. She could not bring herself to tear her eyes away from it.

"Many men believe the world is flat," Eric continued, "and that you would fall right off the edge if you sailed too far. But they're wrong. No man has ever fallen off the edge of the earth. Or at least, that's what I believe."

They sat together that way for what felt like a lifetime, their eyes never straying from the globe. The world had always seemed enormous and lonely to Eric, but looking at it from this perspective, with a wife beside him, it looked much smaller. To Ariel, however, the world had never really stretched beyond the bottom of the ocean, never reached much further than Atlantica. It had felt suffocating before, but now it was large and full of life and adventure.

Dawn was almost breaking by the time they retired back to Eric's chamber. With the help of a handmaiden, Ariel struggled out of her magnificent wedding gown and into nightwear that had been laid out for her - a long, white cotton gown that covered her down to her ankles. Eric gave her privacy while she did so. Ariel had so many questions about her new body, but as Eric re-entered the room in his own nightwear - a gown of his own not dissimilar to Ariel's but somehow still different, she decided that they were best saved for another time.

Eric pulled back the covers on the bed and climbed underneath them, gently inviting Ariel to do the same. She hesitated for a while before she joined him, having been under the impression that she would be sleeping alone in another chamber.

After a while, Ariel called out Eric's name quietly into the darkness. He hummed in response, an indication for her to go on. There was a moment of tense silence before Ariel asked, "What happens on a human wedding night?"

She had heard so many utterings of the wedding night from guests on the ship, as though there was some sort of big event she did not know about. Eric hesitated for quite some time before he replied. Ariel had been human for such a short time - she barely knew what silverware was used for - Eric doubted she would be ready to hear what humans usually did on their wedding night. Much like Ariel's questions about her human form, Eric thought this was best saved for later.

"It's not important," he reassured her, placing a feather light kiss on her lips. It was the truth. To him it was not important - it would come, in time, and for now he was just happy that Ariel was human again, that they were both alive and that they were together. "For now, we should sleep."

And they both encased themselves within the covers, keeping a safe distance from each other for now.

"Goodnight, Ariel."


End file.
